


Ping

by Felikid



Series: fellow godslayers [1]
Category: Persona 5, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Genre: (meaning all of my lackluster technical knowledge), Chatting & Messaging, Crossover, Gen, Hacking, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, ch1 is pre/mid canon for p5, for desu2, internet friends!, they're both genius hackers... so.. they could be friends, vague notions of hacking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24756436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felikid/pseuds/Felikid
Summary: Futaba tries and fails (for once) to hack a shady totally occult "meteorological" agency.Fumi Kanno sees a hacker who could conceivably match her skill one day.Both of them get a friend.
Relationships: Sakura Futaba & Kanno Fumi
Series: fellow godslayers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790341
Comments: 19
Kudos: 30





	1. wipeout

**Author's Note:**

> I got distracted writing my main crossover with the realization that these two should be friends
> 
> i haven't played desu2 in a while so Fumi might be a bit off but her teasing was rlly fun to write. Was she this sarcastic? I can't remember. 
> 
> Anyways have this
> 
> (also tw for some suicidal thoughts coming up at the end because pre-canon Futaba is not in a happy place)
> 
> Pinging is a command used to test the connection speed of a computer. One time my dad showed me that you can get the TV hacking data scroll by making the computer ping itself. That was fun.

Once upon a time, when Futaba was but a fledgeling genius hacker chasing leads on her mother‘s coworkers, she tried to hack into an organization called JP‘s. The name apparently stood for “Japan Meteorological Agency, Geomagnetism Research Departemnt” (which made no sense! What sort of acronym is JP’s?) but if they were actually studying geomagnetism and nothing else, Futaba would eat her black hat.

Why would a meteorological agency end up as a sponsor for cognitive psience? What was JP’s hiding?

Back then, when she hadn’t hit the bottom of the barrel just yet, being Medjed, Hacker of Justice, might’ve gone to her head. Because of this, she failed to realize that hacking a shady totally occult organization was a bad idea, and even worse, she failed. Full stop. Her first (and so far last) failure. Even worse-er, JP’s was packing big guns and actually hacked _her_ in return. She hit that High Counter and it punched back _hard._

As she looked in despair upon her rig, pulling back as far as she could to cut her losses, she received a message.

‘Aww, cute. Little Medjed thinks they can get through me?’

Futaba, in an epic gamer moment, replied swiftly.

<Screw you.>

<I know you’re hiding something>

‘Nothing litte kids need to concern themselves with.’

She wanted to punch that patronizing text _so_ bad.

<How’d you get my number?>

‘You might have skill, but I have experience.’

‘Now hurry along before my boss catches me slacking. Try again in a couple of years.’

‘Who knows? Maybe you can actually beat my firewalls by then?’

Three dots, still typing. A pause specially designed to aggravate Futaba further. Taunting her was just _slacking_ for this JP’s hacker?

‘Provided I happen to drop dead.’

‘Bye now.’

And with that, all her curses were met with a cheerful rejection, a trick that would infuriate and inspire Futaba in equal measure, until she would eventually apply it to the Phantom Thieves.

However, this would scarcely be the last encounter Futaba had with the JP’s IT department.

‘I almost had to use my actual PC! Someone’s getting better.’

‘Just kidding, that was nothing.’

Far from it.

‘How’d you like that experimental code? Just for you.’

Futaba tried again,

‘Thanks for helping me patch out all my backdoors, you’re a great tester.’

and again,

<One day!>

‘Sure thing.’

and again.

‘Did you seriously think a new moniker would help, Medjed?’

<It’s Alibaba now.>

‘Scared of the fame?’

<Copycats, more like.>

‘As if they’re as good as you. Just doxx them or something’

<Why bother.>

Wait a second!

<Was that a compliment?>

ERROR: Recipient not found

“Dang it. I can’t believe they’re a tsundere.”

At some point, it devolved from actually trying to hack JP’s to just.. talking to someone with the same interests. Even if their method of contact was a tad eccentric. After the first time, the other hacker could’ve had her in jail, but they simply _didn’t want to._ Even if it’s all some sort of game to the other, even if it’s just a bit of entertainment on the job.. chatting with an equal was fun.

<I GOT THRU SUCK IT>

‘Check again’

<Oh come on.>

<WAIT I GOT SOMETHING>

<It sayyysssss…...>

<haveanicewhee.wav?’

Audio wasn’t exactly what she’s shooting for, but she pulled her headphones over her ears nontheless and pressed play, only to promptly drop them as a high pitched voice yelled “Have a nice wheee!!!”

<You did that on purpose>

‘Guilty as charged.’

Eventually though, as Futaba passed from relative to relative, she shut herself in further and further, even from these brief encounters.

Sitiing still in her chair, Futaba didn’t even bother. A half-hearted attempt for a half-hearted person. What did it matter? She would never get through, she didn’t even know their _name._ Her mother killed herself and it was all Futaba’s fault. What truth was there to find?

‘Alibaba?’

‘Medjed?’

‘Kid?’

‘You haven’t tried anything in months.’

‘Are you still alive?’

Now that’s a first. The other hacker initated contact instead of waiting on Futaba to steal secrets, Too bad they probably just mourned an opportunity to mess around on company time.

<What do you care?>

‘People have been telling me to use this thing called “empathy”’

‘I’m suspicious but it might exist?’

‘I’ve grown to expect you, is all,’

<You don’t care.>

‘I didn’t.’

‘At first.’

‘I thought you were an idiot.’

<Thanks>

‘Do not interrupt me.’

‘You see, a lot of people are idiots. A lot of my coworkers are idiots, and explaining the concept of concepts to idiot teens is incredibly annoying.’

‘What sort of idiot tries to hack JP’s? If they know of us, they should know not to mess with us. So, what sort of idiot indeed?’

‘The answer is you. You did.’

<No shit.>

‘And people call me rude.’

‘No interruptions, I’m being genuine for once in my entire life.’

‘You were an idiot, except you kept coming back.’

‘And you kept getting better.’

<Point being?>

‘I can see you’re smart. Your efforts remind me of myself a bit. I started out like you.’

<Hacking shady government agencies?>

‘Punching upwards.’

‘So this tiny little hacker girl made insignificant chemical reactions fire off in my synapses, and then she disappears from sight for months, Alibaba’s activities grind to a halt, and I find a large quantity of searches implying a rather.. questionable mental state in your browser history.’

‘Honestly, you might as well just ping me. That last attempt was pathetic.’

‘So, in layman’s terms, because all of my coworkers always complain my vocabulary is simply to broad for their uneducated minds, I’m worried about you.’

<You shouldn’t be.>

Something swelled up in Futaba as she read these words. This, this _stranger_ , this weird person missed Futaba? Wanted her to take another crack at their roadblocks? How could they? She didn’t understand. How could anyone care about Futaba?

<Why?>

<Why bother with others?>

‘My test subject almost died.’

_What?_ First the other hacker actually expressed sincerity for the first time, and now they’re offering personal information?

‘I was so absorbed in my work, the electric shock from an equipment malfunction would have fried his brain if someone else hadn’t been present.’

‘He wasn’t even mad at me.’

‘I’m not letting people die when I can prevent it anymore, not for my own hubris.’

‘My name is Fumi. Are you alright, Futaba?’

Her tear ducts burst and she leapt off her chair. She couldn’t deal with this, somebody,  _Fumi_ , showed concern for disgusting horrible monstrous  murderous-

Before she knew it, she ripped her computer’s plug out of its socket and her room went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fumi tends to make quite the impression on people, and this time she makes sure it sticks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took longer than expected considering i had the entire chapter written out in three different documents across two devices.

Fumi is pissed at Futaba.

To say Fumi’s pissed is both an under- and overstatement. It’s not like she doesn’t _get_ it, the kid’s a genius like her, a social recluse like her. Hell, kid Fumi was a menace to everybody.

But that doesn’t stop her from being frustrated.

She spent almost _two_ years building a rapport, a kind of friendship, where she mentored the brat in whatever she did wrong and the kid basically beta-tested all of her software for free. The chats afterwards spanned _hours_ sometimes, as the both of them geeked out over the same bullcrap that came out the week before.

It was the first friendship Fumi built by herself after the apocalypse. It’s _easy_ to go along with people when the world is ending. It’s _required._ They rely on you, you rely on them, friendship happens, and if it doesn’t, you both die and nobody wants that.

She groans at her PC and drops her head down on the keyboard. “This sucks.”

The light flicks on after her groaning managed to attract the attention of her boss, one ‘efficiency is everything’ Yamato Hotsuin. He stares down at her, as he does whenever he gets to be taller than someone, because he is a brat. Fumi _would_ be taller than him, usually, but as said before, she is currently hunched over in frustration.

“Hard at work, I see,” he says, smiling. Despite being a good boss, since he promoted the over-competent Fumi over her lesser coworkers boasting seniority, Fumi will always fondly remember when a demon hit him upside the head.

“What do you want.”

“I want information on the Phantom Thieves,” he states without any sort of small talk. Both of them suck at understanding “normal” conversation, thank god. Except like, whichever existing god might grant her favor, and not the one, no two, three technically? She helped murder.

“Those guys from TV? ‘Changing the hearts of evildoers’?” Her face remains planted on the keyboard, even as she accentuates her statement with air quotes.

“The very same. I believe their changes of heart occur through supernatural means.”

She rises from the dead and from her desk, stretching her arms. “Time to get to work then.”

“So you weren’t working beforehand?”

“And you standing around here accomplishes what, exactly?”

He leaves, thankfully.

For a good while, all the way to winter, Fumi doesn’t check in on Alibaba again. If she thinks to hard about her, she will feel confused and betrayed; emotions that are not necessary for her work. Even after abandoning the mantle of ‘most antisocial of the IT Department,’ some habits are tough to break.

Digging up info on the Phantom Thieves is a fruitless endeavor; everyone babbles on and on about how great they are. Nevertheless, proof of supernatural involvement remains unfound. However, Chief Hotsuin doesn’t tend to be wrong about the supernatural, and what she’s seen inclines her to agree.

Blackmail and coercion leave traces. Points of contact. Yet there are _none._

Then all hell breaks loose on Christmas.

Needless to say, she receives all the proof she could ever need.

Curiosity killed the cat, because of course it does.

Fumi promised, swore, _took an oath_ , to forget about Alibaba, the tiny wondrous kid who would _definetly_ be more competent than at least half her coworkers. Still, _still_ she has to think “Why did Alibaba cut off contact? Did something happen to her? Does she hate me suddenly?”

Worst of all, she can’t rationalize it with theories and scientific evidence, _no,_ people are more _complicated_ than that.

She slaps her palm against her face and reviews the code again. She pulled it from Medjed’s site, the fake Medjed, because the real Medjed is Alibaba who won’t goddamn talk to Fumi and more like a fake of a fake because _this Medjed sucks._

Straight up, what is his simulacrum even doing. Sure, she’s reviewing this code in January, which is a _little_ late for the whole thing. No one can blame Fumi if she wanted to avoid all things Medjed for a while though, escpecially considering what happened in spring.

She wouldn’t bother, except this is a _Phantom Thieves_ thing, which is increasingly becoming the bane of her existence.

Christmas is screaming at her to find their goddamn identities already and any excuse gets dismissed outright.

Once she’s done, she’ll put the site out of its misery.

Except, upon closer inspection of elements added by the Phantom Thieves, Fumi gets a feeling. Her memory might not be eidetic, proven by her useless venture to record it as data, but she’d recognize Alibaba’s code in a heartbeat. The code is efficient and ruthless; she can’t tease the kid without acknowledging her success.

Alibaba works on a different level than other hackers. Absolutely no doubt remains.

A grin crawls across Fumi’s face, lit up by the pale glow of her monitor. This means that little Futaba is a Phantom Thief.

The chief will _love_ her next report.

Out of pure courtesy and no small degree of sheer delight, perhaps a dash of pettiness, Fumi leaves her own calling card of sorts on Futaba’s PC.

She almost forgot about Fumi, to be quite honest. After the Phantom Thieves stole her heart, she just had better things to worry about. Reforming society! Relearning how to interact with it! Reconnecting with Kana! Hanging out with her key item!

Fumi was a sidequest she abandoned. Quit and exit.

Unbeknownst to her, Fumi wasn’t the type of person to be forgotten.

When Futaba comes home, her room is dark with the exception of glow-in-the-dark stickers and her computer’s monitor. Which isn’t right, considering it should be on standby.

Instead, it informs her of her _fabulous_ ping of 8, obviously due to her high-end routers and the fact that Sojiro never uses the internet. The screen fills up and up and up with meaningless lines of code running endless connection checks, the same signal bouncing back and forth.

Futaba has a nagging suspicion.

“Did you leave your PC on?” asks Akira, who accompanied her on a trip to Akihabara.

Rather than replying, Futaba glowers. “Somebody hacked me just to run connection checks!”

Akira’s glasses almost slide off his nose. “Somebody hacked _you?"_

After loudly proclaiming, “They portscanned me! They portscanned _me!”_ and closing the offending window, Futaba sighs and hunches down on her chair.

“Contrary to popular belief, I’m not actually the best hacker to exist…,” she laughs nervously. “I _might_ be S-Tierm buuut there’s somebody who’s S+. _And_ they might be mad after I told them to fuck off.”

“What did you do, exactly?”

“I had a status ailment, okay? They texted me first for once and I got nervous and then they went on about _empathy_ and so I unplugged my computer and now they’re back.”

“Do they know about…” He gestured vaguely, somehow signifying Akira meant their Phantom Thief business.

She shrugs. “I hope not. Probably not.”

And, a thorough check of her files shows a new office document on her desktop! “Untitled 17” opens up to size 12 text gleefully reading, “To my favourite Phantom Thief, since I don’t know how you’re doing, my boss volunteered to check up on you. I hope you don’t mind, we’ve been dying to know your methods!”

It’s Fumi. No doubt about it. And now they’ve offically got JP’s on their trail.

“Oh yeah. They know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah so this is the end of ping! I've got a bit more in store for this crossover, because i love these two games too dang much, and i guess it's kinda predictable what sort of meeting occurs in the next installment =)
> 
> i suffer from writer typical Too-Many-Ideas-Disease and also probably adhd, so like. No promises? s not like a whole lotta people read this anyways, so I'll leave it on a cliffhanger of sorts n write stuff for my other fics.
> 
> If anyone wants to know the lore of this crossover i will gladly ramble about it for hours.

**Author's Note:**

> yes yes cliffhänger, I've got more but not all of this planned i just!! wrote 1k+ in a mad dash cuz my brain is stuck on devil survivor 2 again. The lore meshes _so_ well with persona 5, yaldy calls itself 'the administrator' for god's sake. 
> 
> Administrative authority distributed among humanity in the triangulum true end created the metaverse anyone?? 
> 
> I rlly liked the idea of a more empathetic Fumi worrying about Futaba... i kno she starts out cold in the game, but almost killing jungo (or daichi) made her more considerate of others, and meeting a kid who's almost as good as she... they should be friends!!
> 
> also YES Fumi beats Futaba on the hacking scale because they're both the 'genius unbeatable hacker' of their respective games but Fumi is also an adult with more experience who does IT stuff for her, ykno, job.
> 
> im gonna go play desu 2 again now to see whether or not i horrendously fucked up Fumi bye~


End file.
